I hate it when people see my skin and say I’m a drugs cheat...
Sprinter Dafne: Acne doesn’t mean I dope
For Dafne Schippers, a mention of the World Championships provokes pain and pleasure.
First to the pleasure. Two years ago in Beijing, Schippers emerged as the young sensation. Within three months of becoming a full-time sprinter — having previously competed in the heptathlon — she stunned athletics by claiming gold in the 200metres with a jet-heeled time of 21.63 seconds.
only Florence Griffith Joyner, who set the world record of 21.34sec in 1988, and Marion Jones, who ran 21.62sec in 1998, have run faster than Schippers.
Those times are shrouded in doubt, as Joyner’s later career was overshadowed by unproven drug allegations and Jones has admitted to doping. So should the IAAF succeed in wiping all pre-2005 world records, Schippers will become the fastest female 200m sprinter.
Yet the immediate jubilation of a record- breaking sprint in Beijing soon gave way to cynicism. Athletics is a sport dogged by corruption, and mistrust intensified due to Schippers’ complexion. The Dutch athlete, 25, has suffered from acne on her face and back, which is regarded as a sign of steroid abuse.
Two years on, Schippers grimaces. ‘I hate it,’ she admits. ‘I hate it when people ask me those questions. I work so hard as a really good athlete, do my diet, follow the sleep patterns and live my life for the sport. When someone asks you things like that, it’s really hard. What can you say?
‘It’s hard with my skin. It’s me and who I am. Acne is something that runs in the family, even our mother had acne until she was 30 or 40. Some people say, “oh that’s a typical sign of doping”.’
Schippers admits her confidence has suffered in an imageconscious world. ‘As a woman, it’s not so funny to suffer from acne. It’s hard to have that and hard to have people say things about that on a personal level. People are questioning your sporting integrity and then your personal side with your skin in one go.’
Schippers is also aware of a different suspicion. She is a white female sprinter breaking records and that does not happen often. A white woman has not won the 200m olympic gold medal since East German Barbel Wockel in 1980, a victory that remains under suspicion due to the country’s doping programme. Schippers lets out a wry smile. ‘It’s more difficult because everyone knows white girls in the 1980s were not all clean. That makes it more difficult. Everyone thinks, “oh you are white, it’s not possible”.’ It is why she supports the IAAF proposal. ‘ Some of those world records — they are just too difficult to run for that period. I think there were 12 or 13 world records in the 1980s. That’s a lot. Normally you think the track and spikes are better now. We want the sport as clean as possible.’ Growing up in Utrecht, Schippers started sprinting as a nine-year-old, where she became accustomed to raising eyebrows.
‘I was always faster than the guys,’ she laughs. ‘When I played football in school I just ran with the ball past everybody. Before track and field, I had a race and beat all the boys in the class in a sprint. The boys weren’t happy!’
In rio, Schippers suffered a setback as the Jamaican Elaine Thompson claimed gold and she made a changeover error that led to the Dutch relay team going out in the heats. The rivalry with Thompson is one of the most competitive in the sport.
‘It’s very bad,’ Schippers says of their relationship. ‘I don’t know why. Maybe because we are both big talents. If she says “Hi”, I will say “Hi”. I am more of an easy person. With the European athletes, I can have fun with them. I am an easy person to talk to. If she won’t do that, then oK.
‘When I did heptathlon, it was friendlier. I spent a week in Sheffield with Jess Ennis when I was 18. Jess was a hero for me. I heard a story that nobody thought she could become the best but she really fought for it and she made it. That’s really special.’
Schippers is the Dutch answer to Ennis. She admits to being ‘probably one of the most famous women in Holland’.
‘At the beginning it was very difficult,’ she says. ‘My life totally changed. Now I feel much better.
‘My mood was not great after rio. I came for gold and didn’t get it. It renews my motivation. When I win, the focus is on the next race. There is always the next gold. Starting in London!’